Car Capsules. If you
are having preemies these are essential for safety reasons but if you are
having a full termer these are still safer and very convenient if you have a
stroller to clip it into. You will also
need some inserts to help stabilise their heads.
Carseats. If you want
to eventually fit three across your backseat look for compact versions. We got the Safe n Sound Compaq for all three
children.
A good pram. You need a sturdy, lightweight and easily foldable pram. Check out Baby Jogger and Bugaboo prams – I think they are the best. We had a Baby Jogger Citi Mini Double for the girls and have purchased the single version for the next baby. The Baby Jogger Select and Bugaboo Donkey did not exist when we bought the girls’ pram and I probably would have considered buying one of them.
Bassinet with wheels.
We bought the Kingparrot bassinet (apparently called the Boori bassinet now) for the girls and found it essential.
It has breathable sides, it’s slightly bigger than the average bassinet,
it has wheels and you can pop a wedge of foam under the mattress to prop it up
if needed. They slept in the bassinets
in the lounge room during the day and beside my bed during the night. You will also need at least 2 bassinet
mattress protectors and 4 sheets per bassinet.
Pillow cases and muslin wraps work well as “sheets”.
Pretty blankets/wraps.
This is what your precious one is going to be photographed “wearing”
when they are first born so invest in something nice. I especially like the stretchy wraps.
Sleepsuits/Onsies.
You’ll need a LOT of long and short sleeved ones. The wrap across the front style is the
easiest to put in followed by the button all the way up the front style
followed by the over the head and button at the crotch style. Do NOT get the Bonds “easy suit”. Worst. Invention. Ever. However – I am keen
to try their new zip wondersuit.
Nappies. For the
girls we used 1244 nappies from when they got home from hospital until they
were 3 months old..so that’s average of
10 nappies per child per day. We used
Huggies but then switched to Aldi when we realised they worked just fine for my
girls. The same goes for wipes – we
started out with Huggies but then switched to Aldi. At 3 months I started to do cloth nappies
during the day and disposable at night.
I used Bambooty quick dry sized nappies but if I were to buy some new
ones I would get their one size fits all version or try out Bonnibuns and IttiBitti.
First Aid. You need
baby paracetemol, barrier cream, a thermometer and nipple cream.
Breast Pump and Bottles.
This is only essential if you are going to pump or formula feed. I hired a Medela Lactina pump for the first 2
months and then borrowed my friends Medela Swing pump. I found both pumps ok but I hated pumping and
blamed it for my cracked and bleeding nipples.
I don’t think this had anything to do with the pump brand though. I used Pigeon bottles as they have a
peristaltic nipple (aka super slow flow) and a good choice for combining breast and bottle
feeding. Look into Dr Brown bottles as
well – I hear they are good. I am
looking forward to (hopefully) not having to pump or bottle feed my next
bub.
Baby carrier. You
NEED one of these…two if you are having twins.
It just made it easier to soothe and carry the girls around when they
needed to be. I was using a baby bjorn
and carrying one on my hip to get them in and out of people’s houses, get them
to a trolley, get them inside the gym, etc…. until they were 14 months old and
exceeded the Bjorn 10kg weight limit! I
have fond memories of Simon and I strapping the girls on and going for twilight
walks around the neighbourhood. We would
find a pair of swings and swing together with the babies strapped to us – lots
of fun!
Baby swing. Essential
if you have twins or a baby with colic/reflux.
We had two of these and would not have survived without them. The ones we had were quite noisy so if I used
them in the middle of the night I used them in the lounge room so as not to wake up Simon and mum/MIL. I would fall asleep on the Giant PVC playmat next
to them.
Giant PVC playmat. We
have wooden floorboards and having this mat has made our life so much
easier! I spent hours lying on this mat
sleeping and playing with my girls. It’s
super easy to clean and it hasn’t faded at all after 3 yeas of use, even though we’ve left it
outside for hours. We now have it
outside on our deck as a nice soft place for them to sit and play with Duplo. We sometimes put pillows under it to make it
into a “mountain” obstacle course.
A Cleaner. My MIL
paid for 2 hours cleaning once a fortnight for the first 2 years of the girls’
life as a baby shower present and I found it to be essential for my
sanity!!! I paid the cleaner for an extra hour
to do our ironing. She still cleans and
irons for us and I don’t intend on letting her go. It really is money well spent.
A meal roster. Get
someone to organise a 3 week meal roster after the baby is born. Otherwise you will be eating takeaway and
sandwiches every night for dinner.
